Yardbarker: Willie Pephttp://www.yardbarker.com/boxing/players/willie_pep/75980
Recent articles about Willie Pepen-usWillie Pep: The Greatest Comeback Story In Sports History“They call Ray Robinson the best fighter, pound for pound. I’m the best fighter, ounce for ounce.”— Willie Pep
This isn’t a story about how a team or athlete, thrashed in the first quarter of a game or early rounds of a fight, managed to overcome a slow start or seemingly impossible odds. This is a story about something much more rare. The comebacks I’m interested in are about second chances — one of the enduring themes in American culture.
Second acts in sports are rare. Age, money, injury and the fast life often make comebacks impossible. When discussing those few athletes who made successful comebacks, the stories of two legends always seem to stand above the rest: Ben Hogan and George Foreman. But the man who truly deserves the top spot in history is the late, great Willie Pep.
Ben Hogan, a golfer, survived a head-on collision with a Greyhound bus in Texas in February 1949. He was riding alongside his wife that day, and at the moment of impact, he threw himself across his wife’s lap to protect her, savin12 Oct 2015 10:53:08 -0400http://network.yardbarker.com/boxing/article_external/willie_pep_the_greatest_comeback_story_in_sports_history/s1_11027_19701913
http://network.yardbarker.com/boxing/article_external/willie_pep_the_greatest_comeback_story_in_sports_history/s1_11027_19701913Willie Pep: The Greatest Comeback Story In Sports Historyhttp://www.yardbarker.com/boxing/articles/willie_pep_the_greatest_comeback_story_in_sports_history/s1_11027_19701913http://www.yardbarker.com/images/yb_logo_square_grey.pngMiami’s 5th St. Gym carrying on boxing tradition of Muhammad Ali & Angelo Dundee daysThe new 5th St. Gym is carrying on the rich boxing history established there in 1950 by the famed Dundee brothers, Chris and Angelo. Known throughout boxing as the world’s most famous gym, 5th St. Gym became a major attraction for boxers, international celebrities and tourists alike, originally due to presence of a rising star training there, Cassius Clay, who, of course, went on to become The Greatest, Muhammad Ali.
Hall of Famers and future inductees have trained at 5th St. Gym over the years, including Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano, Carmen Basilio, Archie Moore, Willie Pep, Roberto Duran, Lennox Lewis, Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini, Mike Tyson, Bernard Hopkins, Roy Jones, Jr. and so many other ring greats.
Others who have been part of the 5th St. Gym experience are actor Matt Damon and comedian Dave Chappelle, in addition to elite athletes such as Cleveland Cavaliers superstar Lebron James, Green Bay Packers future Hall-of-Famer Julius Peppers and former UFC great George St. Pierre. 5th St.09 Jun 2015 17:54:20 -0400http://network.yardbarker.com/boxing/article_external/miamis_5th_st_gym_carrying_on_boxing_tradition_of_muhammad_ali_angelo_dundee_days/s1_8408_18939832
http://network.yardbarker.com/boxing/article_external/miamis_5th_st_gym_carrying_on_boxing_tradition_of_muhammad_ali_angelo_dundee_days/s1_8408_18939832Miami’s 5th St. Gym carrying on boxing tradition of Muhammad Ali & Angelo Dundee dayshttp://www.yardbarker.com/boxing/articles/miamis_5th_st_gym_carrying_on_boxing_tradition_of_muhammad_ali_angelo_dundee_days/s1_8408_18939832http://www.yardbarker.com/images/yb_logo_square_grey.pngMatadors And Bulls: A Love Story (Sort Of)Before Marcos Maidana’s majority decision loss to pound for pound king Floyd Mayweather, Jr. in May, very few people gave him a chance to win. In fact, your fearless team here at TQBR discussed whether Maidana would even win a round during our preview round table discussion. I was generous (read: slightly less wrong but still wrong) and figured he might steal a couple early. Our reasoning was sound, Maidana does everything wrong. He doesn’t throw a single straight punch, he’s easy to hit and often off balance. Even at 37, Mayweather possesses the reflexes of a jungle cat on Adderall. Easy fight to call, or so we thought.
Maidana, ever the barbarian, fought to his own strengths. He bull rushed, he crowded, he fouled. He hit Mayweather wherever, whenever, and with whatever he could. Mayweather has played the matador throughout his career; maneuvering his opponents into his counter shots and escaping their offense at the last possible moment. Maidana happened to be a bull that wouldn’t play along. Maidana didn’t10 Sep 2014 18:05:58 -0400http://network.yardbarker.com/boxing/article_external/matadors_and_bulls_a_love_story_sort_of/s1_10150_17252222
http://network.yardbarker.com/boxing/article_external/matadors_and_bulls_a_love_story_sort_of/s1_10150_17252222Matadors And Bulls: A Love Story (Sort Of)http://www.yardbarker.com/boxing/articles/matadors_and_bulls_a_love_story_sort_of/s1_10150_17252222http://www.yardbarker.com/images/yb_logo_square_grey.pngThe Write Of Spring — A Review Of “The Gods Of War: Boxing Essays”“The sweet science is joined onto the past like a man’s arm to his shoulder.” – A.J. Liebling
Since I began to write boxing with a degree of seriousness last year, I’ve had a notice set on my browser which dings ostentatiously every time a new piece by Springs Toledo is published on The Sweet Science. I can’t imagine I’m the only one. One solitary Google Alert may not seem significant, but there’s a reason he’s the only author I’ve chosen to single out in this way. Contemporarily, the man is quite simply unsurpassed when it comes to that interstitial space between stale round-ups of fight cards and titanic, leather-bound tributes to bygone eras, known rather plainly as the boxing essay.
Not quite a column, and certainly not a news piece, essays on the sport offer perhaps the purest link to the writings of yesteryear, when boxing’s golden age felt as though it would last forever and newspapers devoted plentiful inches on the state of the game, as well as ringside accounts that granted the reporter a license to19 May 2014 12:19:13 -0400http://network.yardbarker.com/boxing/article_external/the_write_of_spring_a_review_of_the_gods_of_war_boxing_essays/s1_10150_16496074
http://network.yardbarker.com/boxing/article_external/the_write_of_spring_a_review_of_the_gods_of_war_boxing_essays/s1_10150_16496074The Write Of Spring — A Review Of “The Gods Of War: Boxing Essays”http://www.yardbarker.com/boxing/articles/the_write_of_spring_a_review_of_the_gods_of_war_boxing_essays/s1_10150_16496074http://www.yardbarker.com/images/yb_logo_square_grey.pngAl Bernstein to be inducted into 3rd boxing hall of Fame this yearBoxing broadcaster Al Bernstein will be inducted into his third Hall of Fame this year on Saturday night, November 9th during the 9TH annual Connecticut Boxing Hall of Fame (CBHOF) Gala Induction Dinner in the Uncas Ballroom at Mohegan Sun.
The other CBHOF Class of 2013 inductees are former world title challengers Luigi "Kid Dynamite" Campurato and Israel "Pito" Cardona, promoter Joe DeGuardia, referee/amateur coach Johnny Callas and USA Boxing administrator Roland Roy.
The 2013 CBHOF award winners are Hartford's "Machine Gun" Mike Oliver, Professional Boxer of the Year; East Hartford Mykquan "Mad Mike" Williams, Amateur Boxer of the Year; Lou Pontacoloni, state Amateur Official of the Year; timekeeper Bill Maxeiner, William Hutt state Professional Official of the Year; former Hartford Courant sportswriter George Smith, Contribution to Boxing.
Bernstein, a native of Chicago, was the face of ESPN boxing from 1980 to 2003. ESPN is headquartered in Bristol (CT) and Al currently serves as 26 Oct 2013 13:10:03 -0400http://network.yardbarker.com/boxing/article_external/al_bernstein_to_be_inducted_into_3rd_boxing_hall_of_fame_this_year/s1_8408_14888846
http://network.yardbarker.com/boxing/article_external/al_bernstein_to_be_inducted_into_3rd_boxing_hall_of_fame_this_year/s1_8408_14888846Al Bernstein to be inducted into 3rd boxing hall of Fame this yearhttp://www.yardbarker.com/boxing/articles/al_bernstein_to_be_inducted_into_3rd_boxing_hall_of_fame_this_year/s1_8408_14888846http://www.yardbarker.com/images/yb_logo_square_grey.pngThe 5 best boxing quadrilogies in historyWhen Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez inked those contracts and agreed to get it on again, they entered into a class only a select handful of world class boxers can claim membership in, namely owning a quadrilogy. Going at it four times has always been a rarity in boxing, usually because so few rivalries still have unsettled business after three fights, and so few see both fighters still at or near their primes so late in their careers. More often than not, one guy has put his stamp of authority on the other, or one guy has slipped too much to stay competitive with the other, invalidating the value of a fourth clash.
Some boxing pundits are bemoaning Dinamita and Pacman having a fourth dance date, but it's my considered opinion those pundits need some sense smacked into them. Even if not every bout in a four-fight series is a good one, taken as a whole they have a special kind of drama to them. A quick look at boxing's best quadrilogies should reveal why.
Top 5 Boxing 24 Sep 2012 09:18:23 -0400http://network.yardbarker.com/boxing/article_external/the_5_best_boxing_quadrilogies_in_history/s1_8408_11795122
http://network.yardbarker.com/boxing/article_external/the_5_best_boxing_quadrilogies_in_history/s1_8408_11795122The 5 best boxing quadrilogies in historyhttp://www.yardbarker.com/boxing/articles/the_5_best_boxing_quadrilogies_in_history/s1_8408_11795122http://www.yardbarker.com/images/yb_logo_square_grey.pngPacquiao vs. Marquez series has become modern day Saddler vs. PepManny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez will face each other for the fourth time on December 8 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. In reaching a fourth match-up, Pacquiao and Marquez are now in pretty prestigious company -- their series brings to mind the four epic bouts between Sanny Saddler and Willie Pep.
Saddler ended his career with a record of 144-16-2, with 103 KOs, and Pep ended up with a ridiculous 229-11-1 record, 65 KOs. Yes, you read those stats correctly. Ring Magazine ranks Saddler the fifth greatest puncher of all time, while Pep is undoubtedly the greatest featherweight boxer of all-time.
Credit: Chris Farina - Top Rank
Sandy won the Featherweight Championship when he kayoed Willie in their first encounter in 1948. In Ring Magazine's 1949 Fight of the Year, Pep regained the title, only to lose it back to Saddler in 1950. Saddler beat Pep for a third time in their fourth and final bout, which took place in 1951.
And like lions they fought. In Saddler-Pep I, Saddler 18 Sep 2012 15:47:17 -0400http://network.yardbarker.com/boxing/article_external/pacquiao_vs_marquez_series_has_become_modern_day_saddler_vs_pep/s1_8408_11747605
http://network.yardbarker.com/boxing/article_external/pacquiao_vs_marquez_series_has_become_modern_day_saddler_vs_pep/s1_8408_11747605Pacquiao vs. Marquez series has become modern day Saddler vs. Pephttp://www.yardbarker.com/boxing/articles/pacquiao_vs_marquez_series_has_become_modern_day_saddler_vs_pep/s1_8408_11747605http://www.yardbarker.com/images/yb_logo_square_grey.pngTop 10 best bantamweights of all-time The Ten Greatest Bantamweight Boxers in History
Bantamweight is a division that has seen many ebbs and flows during its history. Sometimes it’s hot, sometimes it’s not. One constant, however, is that this division constantly churns out compelling fighters. While the Top 10 might not be able to compete in terms of star-power with some of the more glamorous divisions, 118 has perhaps the deepest Top 30 of all divisions. No less than two dozen bantamweights can make a case for being on this list.
Here are the ten best to ever do it at bantamweight, and as always, feel free to chime in with your comments, opposing views, or maybe even agreement.
1. Carlos Zarate (1970-1988)
Though not often given the top spot in all-time bantamweight rankings, one cannot argue that Zarate was the most dominant of all Bantamweight Champions. Let’s get this out of the way early--he didn’t lose to Lupe Pintor. The 1979 decision might have gone Pintor’s way, ended Zarate’s reign, and sent him into a 7-year 10 Aug 2012 16:04:47 -0400http://network.yardbarker.com/boxing/article_external/top_10_best_bantamweights_of_all_time/s1_8408_11426611
http://network.yardbarker.com/boxing/article_external/top_10_best_bantamweights_of_all_time/s1_8408_11426611Top 10 best bantamweights of all-timehttp://www.yardbarker.com/boxing/articles/top_10_best_bantamweights_of_all_time/s1_8408_11426611http://www.yardbarker.com/images/yb_logo_square_grey.pngFrom Beyond The Grave - Classics In Print"In two rounds other than the deciding one the crowd was lifted to its feet by knockdowns. In the sixteenth Ketchel landed a right and left swing to the body and the jaw that stretched Thomas flat on his back, near the center of the ring and it looked as though everything was over. But the Californian was on his feet at the count of 'four,' and succeeded in keeping away until the gong gave him a vital respite. He came up groggy for the seventeenth, and had the Butte boy pressed his advantage, instead of pecking away and clinching, the fight might have ended then and there. In the twenty-seventh a right cross to the jaw as they came out of a clinch took Ketchel off his feet and sat him down with a bump. Here he displayed his wonderful coolness. With thousands of people splitting their throats for Thomas, Ketchel deliberately drew his knees up to his chin, clasped his hands around his shins and looked the referee squarely in the eye, while that official, Timekeeper Harting being unable to make himself heard, st28 May 2012 20:12:33 -0400http://network.yardbarker.com/boxing/article_external/from_beyond_the_grave_classics_in_print/s1_10150_10891031
http://network.yardbarker.com/boxing/article_external/from_beyond_the_grave_classics_in_print/s1_10150_10891031From Beyond The Grave - Classics In Printhttp://www.yardbarker.com/boxing/articles/from_beyond_the_grave_classics_in_print/s1_10150_10891031http://www.yardbarker.com/images/yb_logo_square_grey.pngTop 10 best featherwieghts of all time The Ten Greatest Featherweights in Boxing History
As with all of the classic, traditional weight divisions in boxing, featherweight has a rich and storied tradition, and its list of the top 10 best fighters is deep and talented. However, unlike nearly every other division, the number 1 guy at the top of the heap is a pretty clear-cut choice. Take a look at the 10 best featherweight boxers in history.
1. Willie Pep (1940-1966):
No argument here on the universally-recognized top featherweight of all-time. One could be original and go with a different pick, but it just wouldn’t hold any water. The “will o’ the wisp” was one of a kind--an absolute genius in the ring. By the time he dropped the belt to the #2 man on this list, he was 134-1-1. His final record of 229-11-1 is even more amazing considering he took several dives and fought on well beyond his prime.
Pep first won the belt in 1942, just after turning 20, and nobody could touch him until 1948. Pep was slowed by a 1947 plane crash,16 May 2012 14:27:04 -0400http://network.yardbarker.com/boxing/article_external/top_10_best_featherwieghts_of_all_time/s1_8408_10806221
http://network.yardbarker.com/boxing/article_external/top_10_best_featherwieghts_of_all_time/s1_8408_10806221Top 10 best featherwieghts of all timehttp://www.yardbarker.com/boxing/articles/top_10_best_featherwieghts_of_all_time/s1_8408_10806221http://www.yardbarker.com/images/yb_logo_square_grey.png